Piano



Model) 0. VAN HAAGEN.

PIANO.

Patented Mar. 1, 1892.

FIG 1.

4 4 Wan 444 s m: NQRNLS Pc'rsus co., woro-uma, WAsmNC-mw, v. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

CLAUS VAN HAAGEN, OF CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

PIANO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,876, dated March 1, 1892.

Application filed April 30, 1891. Serial No. 391,101. (No model.)

To all whom it may cancer/t.-

Be it known that I, CLAUS VAN HAAGEN, of the city of Chester, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to pianos; and it consists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the following specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My improvements have particular reference to means for stringing and tuning pianos, and comprehends certain improvements for taking up the wire or string and bringing it to the proper tension.

My object is especially directed to increasing the durabilityof the structure in use and causing the instrument to remain for a longer period in tune with a given amount of use.

My object is also to provide a construction which permits the tuner to readily tune the instrument in most accurate manner.

In carrying out my invention I secure the tension devices in a metal frame, which is preferablythe frame provided with the pressure bar or bridge over or under which the wires are passed, and also in so constructing the tension devices that the wires are easily and positively secured to them, and said tension devices operating to draw the wires taut with a slow movement which permits, in the ordinary tuning, a number of revolutions of the key. The bridge or pressure bar is preferably notched, as are also the apertures through which the wires pass to the tension devices, so that the wires are readily distanced and the labor and time necessary in properly stringing and tuning an instrument reduced.

My invention also comprehends certain specific improvements in the means for securing the wire to the tension device, all of which is more clearly set out hereinafter, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a cross-section through a piano frame embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of a portion of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional elevation of a modification taken on line Y Y of 5. Fig. 5 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the preferred construction of take-up screw. Fig. 7 is a modification of the take-up screw and its connection with the wire; and Fig. 8 is an elevation, partlyin section, of the key employed in tuning.

A represents the wires, which are secured at one end of the piano-frame at B in the wellknown manner. The other ends of these wires pass over the bridge 13 and are connected to the tension-screws F. The tensionscrews F are guided in the metal frame 0, with which the bridgeD is secured or formed integral, and said screws are adjusted in their bearings in a longitudinal direction by means of nuts E, having square or polygonal ends for receiving the key. The bridge D is notched slightly to receive each of the wires A, so that they are readily brought to their positions, the notch being indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 3 and at.

The screws F are provided with heads G, which are preferably notched, as at g, Fig. 6, and formed with a shoulder f for the wire to pass about, as indicated in the several figures. The wire A is coiled at its end and fits about the screw F, adjacent to the head G, and passes around the shoulder f and through the notch g, thence under the shoulder S, which may be notched as in the case of the bridge D, and finallypasses under the bridge D into position to be operated by the hammers. The diameter of the holes or guides T in the metal frame (3 is justsufli-cient to receive the heads G and the coiled wire H, so that the latter are guided t-hrereon against lateral movement, while the nuts E are operated to draw the screws longitudinally.

The action of the wires A on the heads G and their passage about the shoulders D and S prevent the screws F from revolving, and the friction of the coiled part H upon the screw and its head is such that the greatest tension necessary to put upon the wire cannotpossibly loosen it'in its connection with the said screw. To obtain this tension ,so that the wire will be held firmly to the shank of the tension-screw without other fastening, the coil His made of considerable length and of a normal diameter smaller than that of the shank of the tension-screw, so that when the coil is forced upon the screw it binds tightly thereon by the contractile force of the coil in tending to assume its normal diameter. Toenable a large number of wires to be arranged in a smallspace, these screws F and their'nuts E may be arrangedin two or more rows, as indicated in the various figures.

This permits the screws to-be arranged closetogether without experiencing any difficulty in acting upon the nuts with the key.

In practice the wires A would be made in given lengths and the ends coiled, as at H. From these coiled ends H the screws F are thrust, making a' tight fit, which is all that is necessary. The wires A- are coiled upon a mandrel preferably smaller than the diameter of the screw-shank F, so that when the screw-shank is thrustthrough the coil thecoil binds firmly upon the said shank and creates the necessary friction .to prevent it unwinding and looseness in the connection. In this construction the several coils will bind upon the shank with different degrees of pressure, the coil adjacent to the shoulder-f having the greatest pressure and that farthest from the shoulder f having theleast pressure.

In ,place of making the head G of the screw circular, .asindicated in Fig. 6, the screwin-ay be'formed with a bent head G, asindicatedin Fig.7, aroundwhich bent head the wire passes, asi-n the case of the other-constructions. In this-case the coil of thewi-re II:is.reliedupon for centering the screw if at its lower end, or that end which-is-adjacentto the bridge. By thisconstruction the nuts E maybe turned a number'oftimesfor a very small adjustment in the length of thewire A, and consequently it :is easy for the tuner to tune the piano without any backward motion-or loosening of the wires. He cangradu'ally andpositively increase the tension and raisesthe pitch of the string or wire to the desired degree, and a Very slight movement of the key wouldmot be mavterially perceptibleil the pitch of the tone,

thu slpermitting rapid work. Furthermore, all of the parts are secured to metal, and variations and changesin the atmospheric condition do not materially afiect the tone of-the in'strumentand do not act directly in reducing. itspitch permanently.

In Figs. 1 and 3 the screws are arranged at an angle to the wires A, which is desirable in that it is easier for a tunerto apply the key to the nuts E than if the said screws were arranged horizontally, as-shownin Fig. 4. However, if desired, the screws-may be arranged horizontally or parallel to the wires A,'as--indicated in Fig.4. In this casethe Wires are shown as passing over-the bridge Dand under the pressure-bar I.

My invention is one which can readily be adapted to pianos at small expense, with all the advantages enumerated in theforegoing partof this specification,.and obviate the inherent defects of the old method of stringing pianos. Furthermore, my improvements permit the ready repairing and adjusting of the instrument from time to time.

While the keys T may be bored into the metal frame 0, having two diameters, so as to form a support for the nuts E integral with the casting O, as shown in Fig. 4, the said guides T may be bored all the way through, as indicated in Fig. 3, and a suitable steel plate 0, having holes for the passage of the screws F, be employed to receive the nuts E.

WhileI prefer the construction shown, I do not limit myself'to the minor details thereof, as they may be modified without departing from the principles of my invention.

What I claim. as new, and;desire-to secure. by LettersPatent, is

1. In a piano, the combination. of a frame having a series-of holes formed therein, a series of tension-screws'provided with headsafitting. said holes and guided therein-andihaving screw-threaded shanks extending from said heads, and a SG-IIGSaOf wires extending into said holespastthe heads oftheten'sionscrews and having their endsfora consider.- able distance coiled about thesha-nksthereof adjacent to the heads, said coiledportions being within the. holesand substantially fitting the diameter of the-same, whereby. the; heads of the tension-screws and the coiled portions of the wires are guided-in saidholes when the tension-screws aremoved intuning the instrument; I

2. In a piano, the combination of a frame,

0, provided with a seriesof tubular guides T, a series of tension-screws F, having heads G located within and guidedin said tubular guides T,-;and the wires A, having their ends connected with the tension-screws within the tubular guides T and beyond the heads'of the screws.

3. The combination of a tension-screwfor pianos, having a long screw-threaded shank and a head or projection forming a shoulder or offset with the shank,and-.a wire-or string having its end coiled for a considerable depth with the normalinternaldiameterof thecoiled portionsmal-ler than thediameter of the shank of the-screw adjacent to ,thehead and shoul-v der, the coiled portion being. forced .uponthe shank adjacent to said head, wherebythe coiled portion of the wire surrounds said shank andbindsupon it .by the contractile action of the coil tending to assume itsnormal diameter.

5 In testimony of which invention I have hereunto, set .my hand.

CLAUS VAN IIAAGEN.

Witnesses:

ERNEsrHoWARn HUNTER, S. T. YERKES. 

